Kevin Brandon: Brandino Is In The House

Kevin Brandon is a Los Angeles-based bassist, producer, teacher and song writer who has been on the scene and laying it down for a long time. Known to his friends and colleagues as "Brandino," this musical dynamo has earned seven Grammy Awards and has worked with some of the biggest names in the industry, including the Tommy Dorsey

Picking up the bass at a young age, this self-taught player used music as a means to survive the mean streets of South Central Los Angeles in the early 1960s and '70s. Brandino is serious about life and seriously passionate about his music and art. He doesn't mix words and tells you like it is. Keeping it real in out and of the studio, Brandino has a reputation of laying down a track on the first take.

All About Jazz: I have never seen a bassistor any musician, for that mattermove his head around as much and as fast as you do when you are playing. How do you do that and not give yourself whiplash? Where did that come from?

Kevin Brandon: I get pretty intense when I play. A lot of emotions and pain need to leave my body in a positive way, so I guess it's pure expression when I do the whiplash thing. Born in South Central and being an in and out patient of Shriner's Hospital for the first five years of my life might have something to do with it.

AAJ: There is an interesting story behind your childhood and how you were able to pick up the bass. Can you share that?

KB: I started playing piano at about age four, with my sister as my teacher. I started to play the saxophone with my brother at seven years of age. Then my brother and sister formed a band and they needed a bassist; I wanted to play drums, but my father didn't want me to get discouraged from the physical hardship on my legs, so they thought it would be better for me to play bass. So my father went to the swap meet to purchase a St. George bass for twenty dollars, and that was my first gigwith my family, playing bass at nine.

AAJ: Your roots are in New Orleans. How did that experience influence your personal and musical direction, and life?

KB: My father and mother had a lot of music that they brought with them when they moved from New Orleans. Jazz, blues, swing, big band, classical, and wide mixture of music like gumbo. So I used to come home from school and pull out 33s, 45swhatever was in the collectionand decide what songs and recordings I liked and disliked.

AAJ: We are half way through 2012, what has the year been like so far?

KB: A lot TV writing, using my Warwick Single Cut five-string bass over loops and beds. Working on Will I AM s and Justin Timberlake's new CDs. Working with my fusion/funk group, Brandino and Friends, around town. Started on Brandino 's Melodies and Songbook Volume 2 and forming my Bass Quartet group with four acoustic basses.

AAJ: What are you currently working on?

KB: New music and a DVD on my band, writing for the shows Ancient Aliens, Lock Up, Wicked Tuna, Kickin' It, Pit Bulls and Parolees, Code 9, etcetera. Releasing a straight-ahead CD and a solo album.

AAJ: What is in store for you for the rest of the year?

KB: I'm going to Germany in September to hang out with my Warwick Family CEO and founder Hans Peters, [as well as bassists] Jonas Hellborg

and all the other endorsers for a 30-year anniversary of the company, which will be a complete party in itself. Bass Player Live, in October in LA, and the seventh Grand (a popular whisky bar in downtown Los Angeles) performance in November with Brandino and Friends.

AAJ: What goes through your mind when you look back at where you started and where you are now?

KB: Well, I'm still here doing what I wanted to do as a kid, which was to play my bass and make music. I think the older you get things get better because you get wiser about life and the decisions you make. And you can reflect on the things you had fun doing up to this point and the things you going to do in the present and future.

AAJ: Who were your earliest musical influences?

KB: The early recordings I stated earlier in the interview. All the recordings that were on the radio in the mid-'60s and '70s, and bass players like Ray Brown

KB: As I started to play with so many groups stated in my bio, my music vocabulary grew, matured, and developed in each musical experience I was involved in. Growing into an encyclopedia of knowledge from these experiences.

AAJ: What artists and bands do you enjoy listening to today?

KB: I listen to all types of music when I have a break in my schedule.